B3249 - Utilising ALSPAC as a population control set for Head and Neck 5000 - 12/03/2019

B number: 
B3249
Principal applicant name: 
Tom Dudding | University of Bristol, Population Health Science, IEU (UK)
Co-applicants: 
Professor Andy NEss, Professor Nicholas Timpson
Title of project: 
Utilising ALSPAC as a population control set for Head and Neck 5000
Proposal summary: 

Genetic studies often need to compare diseased participants with healthy participants. In this project, a study of Head and Neck Cancer patients (HN5000) has no healthy participants to compare to. Therefore, participants in ALSPAC are going to be utilised as healthy genetic controls. To do this successfully some ALSPAC participants, who've already had their genetic data measured, will have it remeasured alongside the HN5000 participants. By doing this any errors that may occur in the laboratory process can be identified rather than potentially contributing to false findings. Once this cross-check is complete all ALSPAC participants (unless already diagnosed with HNC) can be used as healthy controls which will greatly increase the utility of the HN5000 study.

Impact of research: 
HN5000 is the largest case-only HNC study in the world. Currently approximately one quarter of its cases are genotypes and these contributed to a GWAS of HNC incidence which was published in Nature Genetics. This project will aim to genotyping the remaining cases in HN5000 and provide a set of genetic controls. This will place HN5000 as the leading HNC study for genetic studies of incidence and progression and ALSPAC will be acknowledged alongside this. HN5000 collaborated closely with the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the world leader in cancer research and contributed to at least two large projects which aim to improve many aspects of HNC detection and treatment.
Date proposal received: 
Monday, 4 February, 2019
Date proposal approved: 
Tuesday, 5 February, 2019
Keywords: 
Genetic epidemiology (including association studies and mendelian randomisation), Cancer, Microarrays, Genetic epidemiology